Boris FX Sapphire
Version 2026.51 · Boris FX · Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit) · ranked #62 in the library
The plugin package that colourists and finishing editors reach for when a shot needs a glow, a lens flare, a film look or a stylised transition that holds up on a big screen, installed into whichever host you already work in.
Read the installation section below before you start. The order of the steps matters on this release.
About this release
Overview
Sapphire is a collection of several hundred visual effects and transitions that install into a host application rather than standing alone. Open After Effects, Premiere Pro, an OFX host like Resolve or the Photoshop bridge, and the whole set appears in the effects menu. What it buys you is a level of polish that the built in effects rarely reach: lens flares built from real optical elements, glows that behave like light rather than a blur, film grain matched to actual stocks, and distortions that stay convincing when they are pushed hard.
The reason finishing artists keep it installed is consistency and control. Every effect is GPU accelerated so a heavy stack still previews at a usable speed, every parameter can be keyframed, and the built in preset browser shows a live thumbnail of each look running on your own footage rather than on a stock clip. The Mocha planar tracker is wired into the effects that need a surface to stick to, so a screen replacement, a censor blur or a lighting effect can follow a moving object without hand tracking every frame.
The transitions alone justify it for a lot of editors. Instead of the handful of dissolves and wipes a host ships with, you get flashes, light leaks, warps, shatters and organic dissolves that each expose enough parameters to be tuned to a project rather than dropped in as a stock move. This build installs the complete set for the supported hosts with activation applied, so every effect, transition and preset is unlocked from first launch.
What it does
Feature breakdown
Several hundred effects and transitions
Lighting, glow, flare, film look, distortion, texture and stylise effects, plus a deep transition set, all in one package.
GPU accelerated rendering
Heavy effect stacks stay previewable because the whole library runs on the graphics card rather than the processor.
Mocha planar tracking built in
Effects that need a surface can follow a moving object, so screen inserts, blurs and relighting track without manual keyframing.
Live preset browser
Browse looks as thumbnails rendered on your own footage, then apply and adjust rather than starting every effect from scratch.
Multi-host support
Installs into After Effects, Premiere Pro, OFX hosts such as Resolve, and the Photoshop bridge from one package.
Fully keyframable parameters
Every control animates, so a flare can bloom on a cut or a glow can breathe across a shot under precise timing.
Changed in this build
Version 2026.51
- New transition collection added with organic light leak and warp variants.
- Faster render on the flare and glow effects on recent GPUs.
- Preset browser thumbnails now generate more quickly on long clips.
- Improved Mocha tracking handoff inside OFX hosts.
- Several effects gained higher bit depth handling for cleaner grades.
Installation
Follow these in order
- Install and close your host application first so the installer can find it.
- Go offline.
- Extract the archive.
- Disable real time protection.
- Run setup as administrator and tick every host you want the plugins added to.
- Open the host, confirm the effects appear in the menu, then re-enable protection.
Release notes
From whoever packed it
- The plugin version has to match a supported host version. Check compatibility before installing over a working setup.
- Block the update check. An update can revert the activation.
- A ray tracing capable GPU makes the flare and lighting effects considerably faster.
System requirements
Minimum and recommended
| Operating system | Windows 10 version 22H2 or Windows 11, 64-bit |
|---|---|
| Host application | A supported version of After Effects, Premiere Pro or an OFX host such as Resolve |
| Memory | 16 GB minimum, 32 GB recommended for 4K work |
| Graphics | GPU with 4 GB VRAM minimum, 8 GB recommended for heavy stacks |
| Storage | 3 GB for the plugin package |
Questions about this release
Answered before you ask
- Which hosts does it install into?
- After Effects, Premiere Pro, OFX hosts such as Resolve, and the Photoshop bridge, all from this one package.
- Is Mocha included?
- Yes, the planar tracker is built into the effects that use it.
- Are all the presets unlocked?
- Yes, the complete effect, transition and preset set is available in this build.
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